Erdal Rakip Loan Deal Confirmed

22 January 2018

Swedish under-21 international midfielder Erdal Rakip has joined Crystal Palace on loan from Benfica until the end of the season.

The 21-year-old central midfielder moved to the Portuguese capital from Malmo earlier this month and Roy Hodgson’s first signing of this transfer window sees Rakip make a temporary switch to south London.

A product of Malmo’s academy, Rakip joined the club aged five and debuted for his hometown team in 2013. He played 120 times in total, and has played a key role in the Sky Blues’ recent dominance picking up four Allsvenskan winners medals in his five seasons in the first-team and even played 16 times in the UEFA Champions League.

Rakip holds dual Swedish and Macedonian nationality, and has Turkish and Albanian origins.

He also has 11 caps for the Swedish under-21 side, scoring once, having helped his nation to a third-place finish at the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2013.